YOUNG people should not be demonised over crime but instead helped and involved in the community, an expert said today.

Colin Wilson, manager of South Tees Youth Offending Service, was due to speak at a major meeting of youth justice workers from across the North-east on Teesside today.

The event, called Young People Urban Terrorists is the second North-east Youth Justice Forum Annual Assembly.

The meeting, being staged at Wynyard Park near Billingham, is a curtain-raiser for this year’s Inside Justice Week.

It aims to highlight the role of the organisations involved in the criminal justice system and raise awareness of the part they play in making life better and safer.

Colin Wilson, manager of South Tees Youth Offending Service, who has played a key role in organising the assembly, said the title of the event reflected widespread concerns over incidents nationally involving guns and knives.

But he stressed it was not about scare-mongering.

He said: “The vast majority of young people do not become offenders and of those who do, only a small percentage are involved in serious violence - and thankfully in the North-east we do not have the scale of problems involving gun crime which exist in some areas.

“What we want to get across is that it is wrong - and totally counter-productive - to demonise young people.”

Key speakers include Graham Robb, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales and Will McMahon, Deputy Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, based at King’s College London, which has done a lot of work on youth crime issues.

The assembly will also see the presentation of the North-east Youth Justice awards.